DevLog 20.01.2026 Human Holobiont

Описание: Nervous system added into our Holobiont.

During Onboarding, players can customize their Human avatars a bit.
Change their hair, eye, skin colour along with their clothing and microbiome.

When I was conceptualizing Symbiosis/\Dysbiosis and thinking of how the holobiont might be depicted, there were immense hurdles in my way. In order to keep progress moving forward I threw up my arms and decided to just let it be what it was. But it has troubled me how SciFi a la Mars Attacks our holobiont was looking... even if funny, it just wasn't connecting with research and science enough for me. You might wonder how the heck does this one align with science?! It does so more closely with the image created by the National Human Genome Research Institute: https://extendedevolutionarysynthesis...
With a hint of the artist that collaborated with us on this version, Rowan Wood. The nervous system might keep it in the realms of mycelium connection, neural networks, energy flow.
Anyways, I LOVE IT! And feel really good about sharing this holobiont in the Symbiosis/\Dysbiosis experience.

Now to connect the fungi, heart rate and EEG streams to it.

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Inspired by movements such as the Fairy Creek Forest Defenders, Symbiosis/ Dysbiosis asks how art and technology might listen to living systems rather than extract from them.

Creating a cross Canada Wood Wide Web
Symbiosis/\Dysbiosis — Live VR Theatre at PXR26

Blending immersive theatre, bioart, and extended reality, Symbiosis/\Dysbiosis invites audiences into a responsive ecosystem where real-time fungal biodata, live performers, and evolving soundscapes converge. Each performance unfolds live, shaped by biological signals from living mycelium and the presence of performers across physical and virtual space.

The production features VR choreographer and actor Mandy Canales, who will be live in Toronto for the performances, alongside remote performers, Marinda Botha (South Africa) and Christopher Coles (Alberta, CA).

A custom bio-sensing system translates fungal bio-electrical activity into sound and spatial modulation, allowing the VR environment to evolve uniquely with each showing.

PXR Performance Schedule:
• February 22, 2026 — 11:00-12:00PM PT • 2:00-3PM ET
• February 25, 2026 — 5:00–6:00PM PT • 8:00-9:00PM ET
• February 28, 2026 — 5:00–6:00PM PT • 8:00-9:00PM ET

Toronto Venue: Theatre Passé Muraille
Vancouver Venue: VIVO New Media Centre
Festival-Conference: Single Thread Theatre’s PXR2-26

Symbiosis/\Dysbiosis positions VR theatre as a site of listening, care, and ecological entanglement, inviting audiences to encounter technology not as spectacle, but as a living interface with more-than-human intelligence.

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, The Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts for their generous support.
We thank the Goethe Institut Montreal for their support of Symbiosis/\Dysbiosis with their New Nature award.

#VRTheatre #PXR26 #BioArt #MoreThanHuman #bringingtheartstolife

Nanotopia: https://nanotopia.bandcamp.com/
Instagram: @mothantler